Clinical laboratories can determine susceptibility to antifungals through a series of
commercially available systems, including the Sensititre YeastOne(r) panel (TREK
Diagnostic Systems, Cleveland, USA) and the Vitek 2 system, both based on
microdilution methods, or agar-based assays, e.g. test strips (E-Test(r), bioMérieux;
MIC(r), Oxoid) and discs impregnated with a single antifungal agent.
In order to choose a commercial method, first of all, the laboratory should be aware
of the commercial techniques results considering the susceptibility of each drug to a
particular fungus, comparing the CLSI and the EUCAST reference procedures. In
general, the correlation is based on the essential agreement (EA), defined as the
discrepancies between MIC results of no more than ± 2 twofold dilutions, and the
categorical agreements (CA). The latter depends on the existence of interpretative
break points27 (link)
,48 . Of note, the laboratory should perform
tests strictly as instructed in the commercial guidelines to get reliable results.
Additionally, quality control strains, such as C. krusei ATCC 6258
and C. parapsilosis ATCC 22019 must be included in each commercial
system batch, and be ascertain that all MIC values are within the expected ranges.
commercially available systems, including the Sensititre YeastOne(r) panel (TREK
Diagnostic Systems, Cleveland, USA) and the Vitek 2 system, both based on
microdilution methods, or agar-based assays, e.g. test strips (E-Test(r), bioMérieux;
MIC(r), Oxoid) and discs impregnated with a single antifungal agent.
In order to choose a commercial method, first of all, the laboratory should be aware
of the commercial techniques results considering the susceptibility of each drug to a
particular fungus, comparing the CLSI and the EUCAST reference procedures. In
general, the correlation is based on the essential agreement (EA), defined as the
discrepancies between MIC results of no more than ± 2 twofold dilutions, and the
categorical agreements (CA). The latter depends on the existence of interpretative
break points27 (link)
,48 . Of note, the laboratory should perform
tests strictly as instructed in the commercial guidelines to get reliable results.
Additionally, quality control strains, such as C. krusei ATCC 6258
and C. parapsilosis ATCC 22019 must be included in each commercial
system batch, and be ascertain that all MIC values are within the expected ranges.